Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Rules for Near-Future Mobile Infantry Tactical Units

 

General Approach and Innovative Concepts

Rules are needed for near-future mobile infantry units. The rules offered here are modeled after those written by Neil Thomas of One Hour Wargames. Inspiration also came from Charles Grant’s Battle!  Most of what I learned about near-future warfare was written by Kidd (2005) but other useful information came from articles in the Military section of National Interest magazine. As always, I relied heavily on Wikipedia for definitions and specifications.  

One difference between these rules and conventional game mechanics as described by Thomas and Grant is that cards are used instead of dice with face cards left in the deck. Any number 5 or above is one hit.  A face card is a miss. Turn a joker and your unit is blown up by a mine.

The first innovation built into these rules is that infantry teams are assumed to ride with light vehicles until offloaded. Grant used this procedure in the first battle reported in his book. Different vehicles can transport different numbers of soldiers. For example, the Humvee and Jeep each carries one team (three soldiers). Each half-track carries four three-man teams. Tanks and M8 armored cars normally carry no passengers. However, since WWII obsolete and captured tanks have been converted into personnel carriers, so players are permitted to do the same. Scout cars could, like jeeps, offload crew during combat; we can call the crew an infantry team. We make up our own rules in this hobby. In any case, players should look up the personnel carrying capacity of each vehicle they field.  The total number of units is the number of vehicles plus the number of infantry teams. I suggest you field forces of at least three vehicles on each side, avoid shooting, and maneuver cautiously until you can bring at least two vehicles against one.  A large APC is desirable since it brings more soldiers to the battlefield.

A second innovation is the overall breakpoint concept.  An infantry unit is assumed to have reached its breakpoint when the commander decides to not use it as an attack force or to pull it back for reorganization.  Breakpoints are influenced by several variables, including cumulative number of casualties, duration of the battle, replacements, resupply, and leadership.  No exact predictor of the breakpoint is possible, but officers generally assume that a 25-30 percent cumulative casualty rate is a threshold that should not be exceeded.  To allow for longer game play, in these rules the game should be over when one side loses 50 percent of its units.  Rushing headlong into battle without regard to casualties is the behavior of a bad commander. A good commander takes the objective with as few casualties as possible.

A third innovation is the offensive and defensive equality of the units.  The infantry team is assumed to be equipped with antitank weapons, thus reducing the advantage of armor on the vehicles.  Individual infantry soldiers are assumed to be partially armored with Kevlar vests. The main difference between vehicles is in the number of infantry soldiers they can transport.

Finally, these rules are different because the emphasis on dispersion and maneuver and effective infantry weapons reduces the relevance of artillery, air strikes and armor. The latter can still be used but with limited effectiveness. The combat force should be balanced and that requires recognizing the importance of the mobile and mechanized infantry. This is explained in the section on Other Combat Resources.

 

Game Play

This is a turn-based system.  The first player moves all units he or she wants to move.  Then he selects a shooting unit and identifies a target.  Turning a card determines if it is a hit.  Hit units are removed from the board.  The player shoots with each unit in turn until finished.  Units are not required to move or shoot in any given turn.  

Do not get into a rush; enjoy the game.  Do not cheat; if your favorite unit was blown up by a mine, then swallow hard and take it off the board.  Proceeding in this fashion will result in a game of about 30 minutes in duration if you are fighting a small battle. If you have a large table and a lot of units, then the game naturally will last longer.

Details are given in the Rules section.

 

Order of Battle

In a solo game where the enemy is defending from cover, set up the armies so the player (the attacker) has a slight numerical advantage.  A 1.5:1 ratio of attackers to defenders might be reasonable.

The purpose of the order of battle is to loosely reflect a modern combined arms tactical mobile infantry unit.  Each model vehicle represents one vehicle.  Each vehicle transports at least one infantry team of three soldiers.  The team leaves the vehicle when it stops to scout or engage the enemy.  If the vehicle is destroyed before the team is offloaded, the infantry team also is destroyed. The commander should offload the infantry before incurring fire, if possible. When in doubt, offload immediately.  Offloading counts as movement and uses one turn.

The infantry team can be equipped with a variety of hand-held weapons, possibly including the Javelin missile, mortars, mines and small drones that can take out a vehicle.  My figures are 1/72 scale and my vehicles are about 1/60.

Wargamers make use of the models available to them along with a healthy dose of imagination.  Near-future vehicles are not likely to be on the shelf, so we assume older models can be used.

1.     Jeep/ATV. No armor, one heavy machine gun.  Could be modeled by an all-terrain vehicle or a jeep or something similar. Carries one team.

2.     Light-armored vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns and Javelins.  Could be represented by M113 armored personnel carrier, HUMVEE, M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M8 armored truck, JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), M3 half-track or similar.

3.     Tanks are included as an option for those who feel a nostalgic affection for them despite their limitations. However, all tanks have been converted to carry one infantry team.  The main advantage of a tank is that it is not knocked out by a mine.

Insurgents may use cars as jeep-equivalents and light trucks as Humvee-equivalents.  Assume both are equipped with Javelins and heavy machine guns.  The cars and trucks lack armor.

Note: Mines and Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) can be triggered by turning a joker. The side that turns the card takes the hit. Mines will knock out any unit except a tank.  Over 60% of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan were caused by IEDs.

 

Accuracy of Shooting

The potential accuracy of the Javelin missile against vehicles is 92 percent. Contrast this with the accuracy of rifle shooting by infantry men in the latter half of the twentieth century; accurate firing is defined as hitting the target 50 percent of the time but that is only if the weapon is aimed and the shooter is well-trained.  Average accuracy today is no better with an automatic rifle than it was four hundred years ago with a musket.  If the target is behind cover, the chances of a hit are very slim. The effectiveness of infantry is reduced and the logistical problem of supplying rounds is magnified geometrically when they do not shoot accurately. The Marines and Army have recognized and responded to this problem by making marksmanship and aimed shooting a training priority.  The percentage of infantry soldiers who will take the time to place their sights on a target before pulling the trigger is increasing.  We can expect that precision will rise and requirements for ammunition will decline. Eventually, infantry may be supplied with smart rifles that will adjust aiming automatically.  When this happens, most shots will be hits and fewer rounds will be needed.  

 

Other Combat Resources

No signals unit. All units are in constant communication with each other under a 4G umbrella. No separate comms unit is included in the rules.

Limited artillery and bombing support. This is tactical game in which combatants are close to each other and vehicles are moving quickly.  Calling in artillery strikes normally would be practical only when the target is stationary and more than 12 inches from friendly forces. The enemy knows an air strike is likely if they remain in position so they will quickly quickly. Fixed wing craft must stay at high altitudes to avoid Stinger missiles. Jets and artillery units can be located off the board where they are not visible.  Players can call in an artillery or air strike if the enemy seems to be pinned.  Modern air strikes are precise so the strike is assumed to hit the target.  The hit will be on an area three inches in diameter.  Any unit in or touching the three inches is destroyed.  

Note: Combat units are increasingly dispersed in modern in warfare so as to reduce the damage from precision artillery strikes.  The military learned from trench warfare in WWI that bunching soldiers in fortified positions is not effective doctrine.  Battle space has been expanded and this trend is likely to continue.  As battle space expands, maneuvering becomes more important.  Effectiveness in infantry combat requires a balance between firepower and maneuvering, meaning less emphasis on artillery and greater emphasis on maneuver.  Missiles and bombs launched from air, land and sea-based platforms offer powerful weapons against large targets.  Sooner or later, however, the fighting will involve infantry units.

Limited helicopter support.  These rules are intended for small-group actions in hot zones. Helicopter support is not an essential factor.  Helicopters avoid landing in hot zones for the same reason. Attack helicopters must stay under cover until they can pop up, fire on the enemy, then drop under cover again.  While in the air, they are vulnerable to stinger missiles. Include choppers if you like, but ground transport is the basis of this game.  Wounded are assumed to be evacuated by ground transport and logistical support is not needed in a short encounter.

No standard role for tanks at the tactical infantry level. Military experts might take me to task for failing to grasp the value of tanks in combined arms units down to the lowest level.  However, consider their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Tanks are heavily armored but can be knocked out by antitank weapons carried by all other unit types. The firepower of the tank against other vehicles does not give it great effectiveness against infantry soldiers, who are more agile.  Tanks cannot traverse steep hills, thick forest, or narrow streets. Tanks require a long logistical tail, both in terms of fuel and also mechanics to repair them when they break down.  The mechanical problem applies to all the heavier vehicles, which is why some might prefer light trucks.  This, in essence, is the difference between mobile infantry and mechanized infantry: mech infantry has more armor and bigger guns but it requires more mechanics.

Tanks will be useful at the close of a battle when the enemy is driven to a dug-in position. At that stage, why not call in an air strike? In small group actions, tanks are vulnerable to precision fire from man-carried antitank missiles.  That is the reason tanks are only used in these rules if they have been converted to carry infantry teams.

No headquarters unit.  Combat teams are led by sergeants who carry weapons and direct their teams via close communications.

Drones.  Standard equipment for an infantry team in the near future will include more than one type of drone. Human-size attack drones can cross open space without loss of life. However, they may not be standard equipment for another twenty years.  Small copter drones already can replace the forward observer (FO).  They may also drop warheads and IEDs. In these rules, I am assuming that the drone is only used as an FO. Eventually robotic minitanks and airplanes will fight each other.  However, before the reader gets in a panic about Artificial Intelligence turning our own weapons against us, please remember that all equipment breaks down eventually. If robots starting shooting at friendly units, we can hope they will eventually short-out. The combat infantry team needs and will rely most on technology that is reliable, expendable, and lightweight.

Limited use of lasers.  Lasers will be effective in shooting down drones.  However, they cannot replace rifles and missiles for two reasons.  First, they require a lot of energy.  Second, weather conditions can reduce their effectiveness (e.g., fog, rain, dust). Players can assume some minor laser capability in a combat infantry unit but the rifle remains the main weapon against other infantry soldiers and the missile against vehicles.

 

Rules

Field of fire is 360 degrees.

Shooting is line of sight.

Each unit is destroyed by one hit. Remove destroyed figures from the board. Turn destroyed vehicles on their sides.

No unit may move and shoot in the same turn.

A hit is turning a 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

Cover divides hits by 2.  Note: Cover is decisive.  Shooting at a unit that is under cover is pointless because only a 10 will hit them.  When both sides are under cover, the battle will stall completely.  If the target is under cover, move your units until you can get a clear shot. 

Turning the mine card (a joker) destroys the unit.  If the unit is a vehicle, all units onboard are destroyed. Other random events, such as running out of ammunition or panic, are not included because the mines cause enough chaos. 

Units may not move and shoot during the same turn.

Movement is about 6” for infantry unless onboard a vehicle.  Vehicles move 12”.  Shooting is 12”.

The battle does not end after 15 rounds.  The rules require a lot of cautious movement and each move consumes a turn.  I suggest letting the battle continue until one side has lost 50 percent of its force.

All combat is by shooting.  There is no hand-to-hand combat.

 

Field Test of the Rules (Solo Play)

Scenario:  Search and Destroy.

Enemy forces (the Brown army) are hidden under cover in several locations. Green force (the player) tries to locate and destroy while fending off reinforcing enemy units.

Objective: take territory by locating and destroying enemy units. 

Tactics: The Green commander sends a group of vehicles to a suspected enemy location.  The vehicles stop out of range and offload their infantry teams.  The infantry cautiously approaches the location from the flanks. The vehicles drive into range of the suspected target.  If an enemy unit begins firing, all of the Green units can return fire.  This cautious approach allows all Green forces to shoot at the same time.  When shooting begins, the enemy reinforces or withdraws.  Green forces will withdraw and take cover unless they have numerical superiority.  Green units will seek to advance from the flanks and rear.  Deciding when to withdraw and when to advance is a judgment call that makes the difference between winning and losing.

The automatic decision rules for the enemy are as follows: fire from cover; reinforce if possible; pull back if outnumbered; pursue when you have the advantage.  The Green army does the same.

Victory conditions: take territory without losing more than 50 percent of the force.

The Green army had three vehicles with 18 infantry soldiers (21 units).  The enemy had four vehicles and 12 infantry soldiers (16 units).  The Green units advanced until they sighted a stand of trees, then offloaded the infantry for reconnoitering.  When the infantry advanced, the vehicles moved forward. Fire erupted from the trees, destroying the half-track.  The infantry fell back to cover.  Seeing several Green vehicles, the Brown vehicle retreated to another stand of trees, leaving its infantry team behind to cause trouble for the Green army.

 


Picture: A Brown army vehicle has offloaded its infantry team into a stand of trees.

 

As the battle unfolded, the vehicles would move when outnumbered or when they did not have line of sight.  The Brown infantry stayed under cover.  The Green infantry would have had to move into open territory to approach the Brown flanks so they called in an air strike.  The Brown vehicle had departed and its infantry team had fallen back also.  The air strike hit the target but there were no enemy casualties. 


Picture: Waiting for the air strike

 

The Green army vehicles struggled to flank the enemy while avoiding contact unless they had numerical superiority.  When a Brown vehicle was flushed out, it retreated to cover and the process had to be repeated. However, the Green army typically incurred some casualties before the Brown units retreated. Fortunately for the Green army, two Brown vehicles were destroyed by mines.

Joker cards (mines) proved to be an important factor in the battle.  The odds suddenly changed each time a mine took out a unit.  If the deck must be shuffled repeatedly during the battle, the jokers will turn up several times.

Green army was able to flank a Brown army Humvee so it raced toward its last refuge along with its infantry units.  Some of the Brown infantry were picked off as they ran.  Before the retreating Humvee could reach cover, that stand of trees was hit by a second airstrike, destroying the vehicle hidden there and three soldiers.  Air support proved to be important in the end, but only after the mobile infantry had herded the enemy into a poor position. The Brown force in that location could have attempted an escape but would have taken casualties from a well-placed Green infantry team.  They chose to shoot instead of run, knocking out two Green infantry soldiers, and that was their undoing.

 


Picture: The last position of the Brown army.

 

Two vehicles and five infantry soldiers were left to the Green army (seven out of 21 units).  The enemy had one vehicle and five soldiers remaining (six out of 16).  Overall, the casualty rate for the Green army was too high even though it started the battle with a much larger force.  The Brown army, though smaller, would have won easily if the Green army had not approached with caution.  

 

Assessment

Overall, I found the rules to be workable.  The terrain set up should provide plenty of cover while also giving vehicles room to maneuver.  I played on a surface that had about 30’x30” usable space.  The area could be expanded so as to allow a wider range of movement for the vehicles. However, this would cause delays as the infantry moved from one position to another.

The jokers introduced a random element that can be annoying but mines are an important factor so I will continue to use them. 

The Brown army suffered a 62.5 percent cumulative casualty rate so they broke and ran.  However, I did not realize until the end that in the excitement of the game I overrode the breakpoint rule.  Green army casualties were 67 percent. If the Green army had withdrawn prior to the last airstrike, the outcome would have been a clear win for the Brown army. Now wearing my referee hat, I am declaring this a victory for Brown and sending Green out to dig latrines.

The hit scoring system prevents the battle from devolving into a shoot-out from cover.  Instead, it forces both sides to maneuver. The offensive and defensive equality of the units greatly simplified game play.  Looking up hits on a table was not necessary because all units hit with a number higher than four.  Shooting at a unit under cover was a waste of bullets.

An agile defender under cover with good infantry weapons has an advantage with these rules in this kind of scenario. However, this advantage can be countered if the attacker masses his forces and maneuvers to the flanks.

 

References

Kidd, Christopher J. ARMY DIRECT FIRE ACCURACY: PRECISION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD.  A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE General Studies (2005) Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Grant, Charles.  Battle! Mecanno Magazine (May 1968-December 1970).

Thomas, Neil.  One-Hour Wargames: Practical Tabletop Battles for those with Limited Time and Space, Kindle Edition. Pen & Sword Military (September 3, 2014).

 

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